


The New Kingdom

by TakeAChance13



Category: Jurassic Park - All Media Types, Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Family, Family Feels, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Hate to Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2019-06-29 13:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15730533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TakeAChance13/pseuds/TakeAChance13
Summary: Welcome to Jurassic World! A place where imagination runs wild and so do dinosaurs. That's right! Real life dinosaurs! A place for family chills and definitely thrills. Come eat, play, shop, and discover this amazing new animal kingdom. But just remember, if something starts to chase you... run.





	1. Foxtrot

“Riley!” This was the first word spoken in the Grady-Jennings household every morning. A man about mid-thirties, tall, blonde haired, Owen Grady walks into the small bungalow. He lets the screen door slam shut behind him with a loud bang causing sudden movement from over head. “Riley!” He yells again up to the vaulted ceiling. He walks over to a ladder that's planted in the middle of the one room house and climbs up into the overhead storage space. It’s a small space but it’s big enough to hold a full sized bed, a trunk that sits at the foot, and the small girl the bed holds. He peeks up just enough to see a wave of brown curls peeking out from underneath the comforter. He climbs up and crouches into the makeshift bedroom and sits on the trunk. “Come on, Riles.” He rips the covers of of the brunette, uncovering her head and exposing her to the warm morning air. She groans, rolls over burying her face in her pillow and dragging the covers back up to her chin trying to hide her face from the sun hitting her through the skylight above her.

“It’s so early, Owen,” she complains muffledly.

“We’re no doing this today, cupcake. If you're not up and dressed in five minutes you're mucking out the pig pen today.” He yanks the covers fully off this time and she pops up from surprise. “Five minutes!” he yells and he crouched back through the room and down the ladder.

“Okay. Fine. I’m up,” she groans unenthusiastically. She swings her legs over and pours herself out of bed and onto the floor. Sluggishly and stubbornly, as to not exert too much energy before she's ready, crawls her way over to the truck. She opens it and pulls out what she usually wears to work, a blue racerback tank top, khaki utility shorts, and an army green cotton button down with the sleeves rolled up. Then she pulls out a small vanity mirror and sets it on top of the trunk. Her chocolate curls are a mess sticking up in every which way. She pulls the chest long hair up into a messy bun. Finally she puts the mirror back and throws her outfit of the day over the railing along with a pair of tan work boots, having it land perfectly on the kitchen island/dining area below, before jumping down to the ground level hardly using the ladder at all. 

“Two minutes,” her Owen warns as he pours two bowls of Coco Puffs for the both of them.

“Thank you, father time,” she says sweetly even though she's being sarcastic. She scoops up the clothes from the table and goes to change in the bathroom off of the kitchen.

“One minute!” he yells as she closes the door.

“Oh for the love of god!” she yells back annoyed. A minute later she emerges fully dressed. “There, see. Five minutes. Dressed. Ready. Hungry.” She picks up the bowl of cereal he isn't already eating and her boots and takes them into what they call a living room. Really it's just a couch and coffee table surrounded by fishing poles, mechanical junk, and basically anything else they don't have room in storage to keep so it just got dumped here. She sets the bowl on the coffee table and takes a bite of the chocolatey before going to put her boots on.

“Come on, Riles. I’m serious. We’re gonna be late.” She knew how important this day was to Owen. Today InGen was coming to inspect the work done in his Velociraptor studies. Everyone knew that Owen would be lying if he said working with dinosaurs for a living was his first job choice. But after what had happened with Riley’s parents fourteen years ago he couldn’t go back to the Navy, he now had a 2 year old niece to take care of, and he needed more income to feed two mouths. He had worked with animals before in his line of duty, dolphins to be exact. Training them to run obstacles on command in hopes of somehow using their skills to help the navy on missions. Sure that didn’t make him an animal specialist but it did give him an in. Soon after the accident he was recommended to the elite group of scientists here on Isla Nublar. So he figured, it paid good money and it provided a fresh start for the both of them. After a few years of them living on the island a new group of Velociraptors were being born and Owen lead the experiment to see if one of the most highly intelligent animals in the park could be trained to respond to command rather than instinct. At this point in her life Riley had become enamored with everything dinosaur, but had taken a special liking to Raptors specifically. 

It wasn’t until later they realized what practical purposes this experiment could serve,  military operations. Owen didn't agree with the reasonings behind the experiment but he'd already grown to care for the creatures and he was so close to a breakthrough in getting them to obey orders. Besides he figured if he didn't protect the raptors from being put in the field of fire, who would?

So, no, this wasn’t his first choice in the way he had wished to live his life. But he couldn’t deny that over the years he, Riley, and the raptors had created such a strong bond. They were actually quite famous for it, being the first and only humans to be accepted as part of a dinosaur pack. They were all truly his family. He was proud of how far his family had come and today was the day their progress was going to be put to the test. If he couldn’t perform, he knew that there was a chance he could get pulled off this assignment and he couldn’t let that happen.

“Riley!” he yells again. She sighs as she ties the last knot in her second boot.

“Owen, chill out.” She picks up her bowl and walks to put it in the sink before she turns to him. “Everything is going to be okay. I promise.” Owen still looked sceptical but his erraticness seems to melt a little. “Now breath.” She takes a deep breath and Owen mirrors her followed by a small smile. “Good,” she chuckles. “Now,” she walk over to the door and takes two sets of keys off a hook hanging on the wall just below some framed pictures of them, and one of Riley's parents, and tosses one to her Uncle which he effortlessly catches. “Race ya,” she challenges her Uncle and then quickly runs out the door. Owen quickly runs after her  to see her already mounting her four wheeler. “Hey! Helmet!” He yells and hops on his motorcycle.

“Yeah, yeah!” she yells back already strapping it under her chin. The buckle clicked and she quickly starts her engine and takes off away from the house and a few seconds later Owen does too, leaving clouds of dust behind them. 

When they finally pull up to the raptor paddocks Owen had significantly pulled ahead of Riley and clearly beaten her. They pull off their helmets both smiling and Riley hit her handlebars in frustration. “Damnit!” she exclaims but still laughs.

“Watch the language, kid,” he lightly warns her but she rolls her eyes as he dismounts his bike. “What can I say? You gotta be faster if you ever dream of keeping up with the me, Rookie.” He never calls her by her name once they're out to work. She understands though. Here, he’s the alpha, not her uncle.

“Owen!” Barry calls as he runs over to them. Barry was Owens friend from the navy. He was deployed in france when Owen left the navy but they stayed close in touch. After noticing that the pack dynamic of Velociraptor was more complex than anything he saw with the dolphins, Owen recommended Barry to be hired as co-trainer and caretaker of the project's Velociraptor pack.

“Hey, Barry,” Riley greets him and drapes her arms over the handlebars.

“Salut, petit fougueux” he greets back with a smile. Half of what Barry says is in French and although neither Owen or Riley knew French they always had some sort of understanding.

Riley’s smile fades as she looks past Barry to see, Hoskins standing up on the catwalk. The three glare up at him from afar but his sickening smile and greasy hair makes Riley’s skin crawl. She sits straightens up “He’s early.”

“He’s eager,” Owen corrects her.

“He wants a demonstration...à présent,” Barry tells them.

“Is everything set up?” Owen asks.

“Yes, sir. The raptors haven’t been fed breakfast yet and the pig is ready whenever you are.”

“Alright, I’ll be up in a minute.” Barry nods and starts back over to the enclosure.

Riley unmounts her bike and walk close enough to her uncle to whisper. “You know he wants to use the raptors as weapons right? If you pass his little inspection of his today there's a very good chance he’ll try and take them away from us.”

“I know very well what he’s doing here,” he snaps at her. When she recoils he takes a deep breath before continuing, “But if we don’t pass this inspection there’s a very good chance he’ll try and take us away from them.” She looks to ground an toes at the gravel. He grabs her shoulder lightly. “Look,” she looks back up to him, “we’re a team. All of us. So, no matter what happens today I will do everything in my power to make sure this team stays together. Okay?” She nods. “Alright.” he smiles at her. “Now wish me luck.”

She shakes her head. “You don’t need it.” He wraps his arm around her shoulders and they walk over to the enclosure. Owen climbs up to the catwalk while Riley walks over and opens the gate to the stables to get a good view of the alpha in action. She closes herself in the box and watches as Owen and Hoskins exchange pleasantries and run down what’s going to happen in this demonstration. It’s a few minutes that go by before everyone is finally ready to run this thing. Owen gets in position. Everything is still for a moment. She can’t see or hear the raptors yet but she just knows they’re there. Owen takes one long deep breath, looks over to the pen door operator, and gives him a nod. He presses a button, a light above the pen turns from red to green, and they're off.

The pig comes running  out of the pen, across the field and into the open area while squealing. The raptors can hear the breakfast bell and all of a sudden they burst out of the tree line, hot on the pig’s tail. “Woah,” Owen yells and all four Raptor screech to a halt, losing their prey as it scurries back into the pen. He holds out his hand out in front of him in command and has his clicker in the other. “Hey,” he calls to them. They all look up to the catwalk and see their Alpha, finally. “Okay,” he says and clicks to grab their attention.”Eyes on me,” he commands. “Blue!” he calls as she ignores him to continue looking for the pig, and he clicks at her a few time.. “Blue!” The raptor, with the two beautiful blue stripes down her back, looks up this time. He points at her. “Watch it,” he warns her. Charlie, the one with horizontal stripes all the way from her head to her tail screeches next to Blue. She’s obviously not happy about Owen keeping her from her meal. “Charlie,” he points at her, “don’t give me that shit.”  Delta, the lightest colored one, is the youngest and hatched a day later than the rest of them. She screeches as well, copying Charlie like an annoying little sister would do. “Delta, lock it up.” When he seems to have gotten all of their attention he clicks in praise. “Good. And…” he raises his right hand a little higher so they can follow it, “we’re moving.” He makes his way around the catwalk to the food bucket and they follow him.

“Woah.” They stop as he does. He pauses for a moment but they keep their attention on him. “Hey, that’s good. That’s damn good!” he exclaims and clicks in praise. He reaches into the bucket and pulls out a rat. “Very good. See, Charlie?” He throws the rat down into the paddock and the dinosaur catches it and eats it. “That’s what you get. Echo,” he calls to the spotted raptor, “here you go.” He throws a rat to her as well. “Delta.” He throws her one. He pulls another rat out. “Blue,” he finally calls the beta raptor. He holds the big rat up. “This one’s for you.” he throws it to her and she catches it happily. “Hold,” he commands again. The raptors still. “Eyes up.” He raises his hand over his head and they all stand at attention. “Go!” He drops his hand quickly and the dinosaurs run off past him. 

Riley sighs in relief and laughs joyfully. He actually did it. As Owen and Barry celebrate Riley walks over to get her equipment including her non-lethal stun gun (used for dire emergencies only) and her satchel filled with tasty, raptor, rat snacks. She walks back over to the cage doors where the raptors are all lined up looking at her now. “Morning, ladies.” She smiles at them. She reaches into her satchel and pulls out another rat. “Is this what you guys want?” They all give respond with a screech or a growl and she laughs. “Alright. Here you go.” She tosses them all another rat through the cage bars for a job well done today.

“Hey, Foxtrot!” Her uncle calls her by her raptor nickname from above. She looks up at him. “You mind taking over for a minute?” he asks. She sees Hoskins standing beside him and she figures this is the talk they’ve been expecting and fretting for months now. She gives him the thumbs up anyway and goes up the stairs onto the catwalk.

* * *

Owen walks away from Hoskins in attempt to not punch him but he follows close behind. “I just seen they can respond to command,” Hoskins continues to push. “You need to take your research and get it on its feet.”

“They’re wild animals, Hoskins. Trust me, you don't want them in the field,” Owen trie to deter him.

“I just saw a bond. A real bond,” Hoskins jumps in front of him and prevents him from walking away anymore, “between man and beast.”

“You’re in my way,” Owen says calmly.

“Come on. We’re the same. We’re dogs of war. We know that the military needs to reduce casualties. Some people think robots are the future.” Owen scoffs and pushes past him again to walk down a platform. “Look,” Hoskins calls after him, “nature gave us the most effective killing machines seventy five million years ago and now we know that they can take orders.” Owen whips back around to him and glares. Barry finally intervenes before Owen really does punch the guy.

“Finally make progress and this is the first thing he says? Make a weapon?” Barry asks. “Incroyable.” Hoskins scoffs like they're the ones being unreasonable in this situation. 

“Come on, gents. It’s grown up time,” He tells them as they continue to walk. “Drones can’t search tunnels and caves. And they’re hackable. The minute war does break out all that fancy tech is gonna go dark.”

“Yeah well that tech’s not gonna eat them if they forget to feed it,” Owen argues.

“Look,” he points down at the raptors who are jumping around. “Look, at these creatures. They have millions of instincts in their cells. Instincts that we can program. Their loyalty can not be bought. These guys are gonna go straight into the enemies teeth and eat them belt buckle and all.”

“What if they decide they want to be in control?” Barry asks.

“Well then we’ll remind them who is. Terminate the rogues. Promote only loyal bloodlines.” Barry laughs and has to walk away before he really loses it. “What? What’s so funny?” Hoskins asks.

“You come here and you don’t learn anything about these animals except what you want to know,” Owen tells him and Hoskins rolls his eyes. “You made them and now you think you own them.”

“We do own them. Extinct animal have no rights.” 

“They’re not extinct anymore Hoskins.” Owen starts to walk away when they both hear a whistle and clicking noises coming from the middle of the catwalk. 

“Woah, woah. What is she doing?” He points out to Riley who’s calling to the raptors with a rat in her hand. She walks up and down the walkway and the raptors follow down below her. Then she stops and holds her arms out to her sides to spins around in a slow circle. The raptors spin around down below her and she laughs before throwing the rat down into the cage and having Delta catch it.

“They’re playing,” Owen explains with a smile.

“Playing?” Hoskins say like it’s an insult. Riley takes another rat from her bag, reels back her arm and launches it into the paddock. The raptors all go chasing after it screeching and Riley darts off in the opposite direction, and running up and down platforms. “What’s she doing?”

“Well how did you play hide and seek as kid, Hoskins?” Owen jokes and walks away.

* * *

After Riley feels she’s a safe distance away from all the raptors she crouches behind one of the panels they have placed around the catwalk just for this purpose. She sits waiting, being as quiet as she can, but it doesn’t take long for her to hear three squawks below her. Signaling she’s been spotted. She smiles and stands up to look over the railing. Blue is below her looking up expectantly. “Good girl, Blue,” she cheers and pulls another rat out of her satchel to throw to the dinosaur. Blue was the best at this game. The others have won here and there, but Blue is the champ. “Alright, ready Blue?” She clicks and the raptor looks up at the girl and she turns her body to the side. “You and me. Ready.” Riley crouches down getting ready to run and Blue lowers her head to the ground.  “Go!” Riley yells and she takes off running around the barrier of the enclosure. Blue races close beside her. Riley loves to race the raptors. She knows there is no way she can beat them but that’s not why she does it.

Obviously the raptors are way faster than she is but the whole time their racing they stay right with her. They look after her like the runt of the litter who needs to be protected. 

Riley pushes herself further sprinting ahead of Blue. But her body gets in front of her feet and she trips. She hits the  grated platform, hard, and bounces up into a wall holding a control panel and accidentally releases the small pig from its containment. She goes rolling in the opposite direction until she busts through one of the safety chords and is now falling off the platform and into the paddock. She grabs onto the bars quickly and is now hanging into the paddock ten feet above the raptors. Luckily the pig goes squealing and running around the paddock and catches the attention of all the raptors. Charlie’s the first to react. 

“Pig loose. Pig loose!” One of the workers yells as he tries to quickly chase it down before the raptors can get to it. But Echo is quicker. Just as the kid slips the trap around its neck, Echo snatches it up and runs away taking the trap with it, pulling the kid into the enclosure and landing him on his back

Owen takes in the scene before him. He springs into action, his mind is working a mile a minute. He has to work fast cause the three raptors are slowly closing in on the boy. He runs over to the control panel and opens the gate. 

“Owen! No!” Barry yells as the gate rises. Riley looks down to see her uncle crawling into the cage with the raptors.  She frantically starts trying to pull herself up and swing her legs back onto the platform. Two men come running down the catwalk with big stun guns one of them grabs Riley and pulls her  back up. Before they both at full attention point their guns into the paddock at the raptors. Riley gets up quickly and scream, “No!” She pushes their gun away fighting against them. Until, Owen yells from below.

“No, no, no, Hold your fire,” he tells the men. He runs forward and puts himself between the raptors and the boy.  “Hold your fire. Do not fire!” he calls out once more. The containment team doesn't stand down though. 

Riley shoves them both back from the edge and pushes their guns up and away. “He said stand down,” she says threateningly. They both exchange a look still having their guns at the ready but finally standing down. She turns quickly  to run down to the chaos and watches as her Uncle tries to handle the situation. Barry stops the gate from rising as Owen holds his hand out to the dinosaurs bringing them to a halt as the boy scoots awa. “Put twelve amps in these animals they're never gonna trust me again.” They boy finally scrambless to the edge of the cage and Barry pulls him out and tosses him aside. Riley runs past Hoskins, into the box and with the boy safe they turn back to Owen. “Blue, stand down. Stand down,” Owen warns her gently but she doesn’t listen. She lunges and snaps at him and he jumps back. “Hey. Hey!” He yells taking a more alpha like stance and a firmer tone. “What did I just say?” Delta tries to sneak around his side but he holds his hand up to her too. “Delta I see you. Back up!” She screeches at him but follows order. “Okay. Good. Good,” he says as the raptors fall back. “Charlie stay right there,” he warns her too. Hoskins watches enthralled. “Close the gate,” Owen orders.

“Are you crazy?” Barry yells at him.

“Hey, just trust me.”

“Close the gate!” The boy yells from the ground. Barry reluctantly reaches over and presses the button. The gate slowly begins to close and Barry pushes Riley back. When the door is closed just enough Owen makes a mad dash and rolls under the door just before it closes and traps the raptors on the other side. They growl and screech in frustration but ultimately walk away. Barry helps Owen up and dusts him off.

“Tu es un fou,” Barry says and they both laugh.

“Yeah,” Owen agrees. Barry walks away and Owen turns to the kid still on the ground. “You’re the new guy, right?”

He nods exasperated. “Yeah.”

“You ever wonder why there was a job opening?” Owen is joking, Riley knows this. But the look on the kids face is that of pure terror as he inhales shakily. “Hey, don’t ever turn your back to the cage.” He informs him. The kid turns turns to see Blue crouched down behind him, growling through the bars. Owen goes to walk away only to find Hoskins smiling slyly on the other side of the box. He clenches his fists and jaw. He really hates that guy.

“Owen,” a small voice says behind him. He turns to see Riley looking at him, arms folded across her chest, trying to be as small as possible, with extremely guilty eyes. He doesn't say anything at first just grabs her left arm, unfolding them, and examining it. It's only now that Riley realizes she is bleeding. And in pain. She has scrapes from the bottom right corner of her left palm and down her inner wrist, from where she tried to catch herself from tripping. Based on her discomfort her right side was definitely going to be bruised and her left knee was pretty bloodied. A stray piece of hair was hanging in front of her face and caked in blood. 

Owen opens his mouth and she’s ready to be reprimanded. However, all he says is, “You should go home, take a shower.” He drops her arm and tucks the bloody piece of hair behind her ear. “You’re covered in dirt and blood. You need to see to those wounds.” He was so calm. Somehow she found that worse.

In a voice barely over a whisper she starts to apologize. “I’m so sorry, Owen. It was an accident-”

““Go home, Riley!” he cuts her off  more firmly. Her eyes fall to the ground submissively. She doesn’t say anything else just nods. He sighs heavily. She doesn't move until he walks away. When she can't see him anymore she runs to quickly hangs up her satchel, hops on her four wheeler, and speeds back to the bungalow.


	2. A Family That Strays Together

When Owen finally pulls back into the bungalows gravel drive, Riley is sitting at the picnic table overlooking the water. She has changed out of the bloodied clothes from this morning and into a red tank top, grey utility shorts and her regular boots. She has clearly taken a shower cause her hair is slightly damp, but left down to hang around her shoulders so it could dry with the wind, and her wounds have been sufficiently cleaned. She is wrapping her wrist where she was cut in a bandage. She barely looks up when she hears the roar of the motorcycle. Only looking out of the corner of her eye as it rolls past and her face is expressionless when Owen settles on the bench across from her. He can see she's having trouble tying her bandage off, so he reaches over and takes her arm to do it himself.

“Thank you,” she says quietly. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and looks down at the table trying not to make eye contact. He nods slightly. He finishes taping her up, he puts the supplies back in the first aid kit and then folds his hands together in front of him. They sit in uncomfortable silence waiting or the other to say something before Riley finally breaks the silence. “So,” she starts mimicking his movements and folding her hands as well, “on my way back here I did some thinking.” She finally looks at him. His face is blank but his eyes are expectant waiting to hear what she has to say. “I was thinking that...um...my bike hasn’t gotten a tune up in awhile so if weren't dealing with anything...”

He turns away to hide that he's cracking a smile. Riley definitely got her moms sense of humor. His sister always had a talent for making him laugh when he most want to cry or punch a wall. He sighs heavily and slips back into his serious demeanor before speaking “Listen, Riles-”

“I messed up,” she cuts him off. “I know that. And I'm sorry, okay? I'm really, really sorry.”

“You put a lot of people in danger today, Riles. We’re lucky no one got hurt.” She breaks eye contact with him and looks back to her hands. “I don't know what'll happen next. They could label us a potential liability risk, or they could take us off the project completely. And I'm gonna try everything I can to calm the situation down. But in the meantime there's gotta be some consequences and some rules.” Riley nods in understanding. “Firstly, no park privileges, for two weeks.” She nods again. “And secondly,”  he pauses knowing how she will react to the following statement, “I think you need to stay away from the Raptor paddock.” Riley’s head snaps up at this and she looks panicked, “Just for a little! A suspension period.” Owen says a little louder and rushes before Riley can interrupt. “Just until all this blows over.”

“No!” she yells. “Owen. You can't do that. You can't suspend me from family. They're my pack.”

“I’m not being given much of an option here, Ri. You could’ve died today. I could've died today and who knows who else you put in danger. This island is our home. Were are responsible for all of its inhabitants, not just the cold-blooded ones.”

She standups up from the table but still leans forward with her hands on the table. “You said this morning that you'd ‘keep this team together’. What happened to that?”

“What do you think I'm trying to do?” He stands up with her, still leaning forward. “Look I know it doesn't seem like it now but I'm just tryna do what's best here.”

She pushes off the table and starts walking up to the bungalow. “This is total bullshit!” she yells walking up the steps and inside.

“Hey! Watch the language!” Owen yells after her. 

“Ugh!” She screeches showing off the dramatic teenager act.

The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupts their heated argument. Owen looks over to see Claire Dearing standing a few feet away. In the midst of it all they hadn't even heard or seen her drive up. “Am I interrupting?” she asks. Riley pokes her head out to see the stuck up park administrator dressed in an all white, knee length skirt, a white blouse to match and tan heels. 

“What do they want now?” Owen questions as he turns and walk the opposite way. He picks up a bucket and tool box from the shed on the side of the bungalow, as Claire tries to walk steadily across the gravel drive. Owen takes to bucket up to Riley's four wheeler and flips it over on the ground so that he can sit next to it. Claire ignores him and looks over at Riley who’s standing on the middle porch step now with her arms crossed and leaning against the right railing.

“Hi.” She gives a tight lipped smile to the girl and extends her hand. “You must be Mr. Grady’s niece. Claire Dearing,” she introduces herself.

Riley looks at the hand but doesn’t take it. “Yeah, Riley Jennings. We’ve met...like seven times.”

“Huh,” Claire says trying to remember these occasions and failing. “Okay,” she says simply before taking back her hand and turning to Owen. “Anyway,” she continues on. “Mr. Grady, I need you to come take a look at something.”

“Why you calling me Mr. Grady?” he asks while digging around in the tool box.

“Owen,” she tries again, “if you're not too busy.” She looks around judgingly as if even the thought of him being ‘busy’ offended her.

“I'm pretty busy,” he says and then promptly does nothing but stare at her as he sits on his bucket just to spite her. That goes on for about ten seconds before Owen sees shes significantly annoyed. He laughs to himself before going back to ignoring her and working on Riley’s bike.

“We have an attraction,” she continues with determination.

“Well that’s not what you said the last time I saw you,” Owen jokes slipping into his smooth flirty voice. Riley knows about the crush Owen harbors for the parks ‘boss lady’ as he calls her. Riley was actually the one who pushed him to finally grow a pair and ask her out. Owen was pretty good at a one night stands. Meaningless sex with random women passing through the island that he would never see again and had one too many margaritas down at Jimmy Buffett’s. They’d stumble out of his trailer that was parked next to the bungalow, Riley would make them a cup of coffee, and they'd be gone within the hour. They had the routine down. Dating however...well… if anyone asked Owen how his date with Miss Dearing went, the only words that came to mind were, “Not well.” Riley wasn’t much better. She has only ever had a couple summer flings. Families passing through with boys her age. A few small kisses snuck here and there and that's about it. She’s never really connected with people, outside Owen and Barry. But after seeing the fiasco that Claire and Owen’s date had become Riley was sure she wasn't missing out on anything. Especially now, watching how awkward this conversation has already become. 

“I’m talking about the dinosaurs, Mr.Grady.”

“O-wen,” he corrects her again sounding out his name and standing slowly.

“A new species we’ve made.” A bug starts buzzing around Claire's head as Owen walks closer to her. She’s trying to swat at it but when he gets about two feet away he snatches it out of the air right beside her face.

She smiles at him appreciatively while trying to seem unimpressed. “You just went and made a new dinosaur?” he questions and now he's the one that sounds judgy. 

“Yeah it’s kind of what we do here.” He walks over to his work bench swapping out parts and picking up a wrench to toy with. “The exhibit will be open to the public in three weeks. Mr. Masrani wanted me to consult with you.”

Owen spins the wrench around his finger as he saunters back up to her with a smirk on his face. “Would you like to consult here? Or in my bungalow?” he asks smoothly and Riley rolls her eyes and groans. 

“That’s not funny.” Claire shakes her head but Riley can see the slight smirk on her face.

Owen laughs as he passes Riley up the porch two stairs at a time. “It’s a little funny,” he mutters.

“We’d like you to evaluate the paddock for vulnerabilities.”

“Why me?” Owen yells from the back of the house while grabbing more tools.

Claire shrugs at a loss and passes Riley as well up the stairs. “I guess Mr. Masrani thinks, since you're able to to control the raptors-”

“See,” Owen comes back around the corner and cuts her off, “it’s all about control with you. I don’t control the raptors. It’s a relationship. It’s based on mutual respect,” he explains. “That’s why you and I never had a second date,” He says and walks away. Riley hits her palm to her forehead. And there it is. Of course Owen would bring up the one thing on everybody’s mind, straight out into the open. 

“Excuse me!” Claire says offended as he walks away. “I never wanted a second date.”

“Who prints and itinerary for a night out?” he asks sitting back on his bucket.

“I’m an organized person.”

“What kind of diet doesn't allow tequila?”

“All of them actually.” Riley can’t help but laugh as she watches the two and this ridiculous argument. “And what kind of a man shows up to a date in board shorts?”

“It’s Central America. It’s hot.” He smiles as he unscrews something else from her bike.

“Okay, okay,” she reverts the conversation. “Can we just focus on the asset, please?”

“The asset?” he questions and stands up once more and takes a rag from his back pocket. “Look I get it,” he sympathises and wipes the grease off his hands and walks to the bottom of the stairs. “You're in charge out here. You gotta make a lot of tough decisions. It’s probably easier to pretend these animals are just numbers on a spreadsheet. But they’re not. They’re alive.”

“I’m fully aware that they’re alive.”

“No your not,” Riley interrupts. “To you all of this,” she gestures to the island, “is just some science experiment. But these creatures are my family. You might have made them in a test tube, but they don’t know that.”

“She’s right.” Owen jumps in. “They’re thinking, “I gotta eat. I gotta hunt. I gotta…” he bites his lip and pumps his fist at her as an obscene gesture. “You can relate to at least...one of those things, right?” he jokes and Riley chuckles. Claire glares at her as she walks down to the bottom step and gets within inches of Owen.

“I’ll be in the car.” Owen smirks at her as she looks him over. “You might want to change your shirt. They’re very sensitive...to smell.” Owen watches as she walks away, all the way to her car.

“Ahem,” Riley clears her throat. Owen snaps out of it and walks away into his trailer completely ignoring her. “Owen,” she calls after him and follows him inside. Right away he's sifting through piles of clothes and papers. Clearly looking for something. “ You have to take me with you, Owen.” She say less as a plea and more like a demand.

“Oh? Is that right?” He asks finding a blue button up shirt and walking back to the bedroom to change.

“This dinosaur has been a year and half in the making and highly classified. I have to at least see it.” 

Owen comes out of the room and narrows his eyes at her as if he's contemplating it but then gives a simple, “No.” Then goes back to sifting through the mess .

“Why not?” she half whines.

“You’re suspended. Remember?” he reminds her picking up a small glass bottle of blue cologne and giving himself a few sprays.

“Yes, but this isn’t park privileges. This is work,” she argues.

He laughs. “Yeah you’re suspended from that too.”

“Ugh!” she groans and runs her fingers through her hair.

“Look,” he starts looking around again spinning in multiple circles. “I know you think I’m being unfair, but maybe this will teach you a lesson.”

“Yes. Okay. I get it. I'll be more careful and think about others first. This place teaches humility. I‘ll learn from it. Blah, blah, blah. Now can I go?”

He takes her face in his hands. “No. Have you seen my vest?” He looks around for his vest and she clenches her jaw and fists.

“Back of the bathroom door,” she grits through her teeth. He goes to get it and as he comes back he can visibly see her frustration. Shes glaring at him.

He sighs heavily and takes her chin in his fingers. “Don’t be angry with me. The exhibit opens in three weeks. By then your suspension will be over and you’ll get to see the new dinosaur just like all the other guests. That’s humility. Getting back in touch with the smaller, warm-blooded creatures of this island. See how I brought that back around?” he comments smugly but she rolls her eyes. “This is for your own good.” He walks out the door and she shuffles behind. When they’re a few feet from the car Riley can see Claire has put her phone back in its permanent place against her ear, probably talking to someone important. Owen turns around and grabs her shoulders to stop her from following any further. He gives her a sad smile then leans over and kisses the top of her head. “Stay. Here,” he warns her then turns to get in the car. Claire waves a small goodbye to her as Owen settles in. Then the car starts, Claire pulls out of the drive and they drive away.

Riley watches them disappear, becoming more and more frustrated as the car grows smaller and smaller. When she can no longer see them she turn on her heels, marches back to the bungalow, steps inside and slams the door behind her, slightly shaking the foundation of the tiny house, and knocking a picture off the wall. She stands in the middle of the house for a moment with her eyes closed. One hand pinching the bridge of her nose, the other resting on her hip as she tries to take a few calming breaths. She knew she was overreacting, but she really hates being told what to do. And when you really think about it, it's Owens fault she’s like that in the first place. Growing up with a role model who never takes orders from anybody. He’s to blame! The bastard! 

Or at least that's what she tell herself. And no matter how many calming breathes she take, her clear lungs were not overpowering her crowded head. It wasn't a few minutes before Riley raises her head, turns on her heels and storms back towards the door. She take her keys off the hook and tries opening it but it’s stuck. She tries turning the lock. Stuck. The deadbolt. Stuck. She pounds against the door in frustration. Beating at it so hard she thinks the glass window might break. After her fist hits it a few dozen times she violently shakes the door knob until it's at risk of coming loose, and curses under her breath the entire time, she huffs in exhaustion, in defeat  and turns her back to the door to slide down until she was sitting on the floor. 

She sits there for a few minutes, her knees pulled up to her chest, until she notices the picture, that she had knocked off the wall when she came in, sitting a few feet to her right, face down. She leans over from her spot and picks it up. Luckily it didn't shatter. She sits the frame on her knees and takes a look. It’s a picture of her, at about nine. Her brown hair was only about shoulder length back then, and her eyes seemed brighter somehow. She’s smiling from ear to ear, sitting cross legged on the floor of the genetics lab as four baby, week-old raptors climb around her. Blue is sitting on top of her head like a hat, Charlie is on her right shoulder making tiny squeaky noises in her ear, Echo is climbing up her left arm and she’s holding little Delta in her lap. 

Not a lot of people know that Delta was the first raptor to accept her as part of the pack. They’ve always had a stronger bond it seemed. It’s probably because Delta wouldn’t be alive today without Riley. When all the other raptors hatched except for one they didn’t see a need for a failed fourth dinosaur. So they we’re just going to terminate the egg and move on with a pack of three.  _ “These things happen,”  _ they said. But Riley’s not one to give up so easily.  _ “No. You can’t. She’s gonna make it!”  _  Riley fought them tooth and nail tuning at lab coats and having a full blown melt down, screaming if any of the doctors can near the incubator. When Owen saw the determination in his niece he was filled with pride.  _ “You heard the lady. Step away from the egg,”  _ he told the scientists. The lab gave the egg one more day. Owen and Riley stayed with it all night. Almost 14 hours after the rest had hatched, the egg finally started to crumble away and little Delta came out. She’s named Delta because it means the fourth. But even though Delta had accepted her it didn’t mean the rest did.

It took awhile for them to warm up to her but the deciding factor was Blue. While Delta and Riley had always had a stronger bond, Blue had always been her protector. Although she was sceptical at first, when it came down to it Blue had always protected her. The biggest example was when she was eleven and she was playing outside of the cage door, she fell and scraped her knee. Charlie and Echo smelt the blood and instantly thought, food. They tried to snap a her through the bars, scaring her beyond belief. But Blue ordered them to back off. Blue stayed there, watching her, studying and looking after her at the same time until Owen came and carried her away.

Echo was named for being a copycat. She watched everybody. Riley would stand outside the cage and do different movements and watched in amusement as Echo would try and mimic her. Riley would tilt her head to the side and Echo would do the same. Riley would jump, Echo would jump. Sometimes Riley thinks Echo doesn’t know if she’s a raptor or a human. She guesses they’re sort of similar in that way.

And Charlie is the most talkative one. Riley would sometimes sit outside the cage for hours and just talk to Charlie. She didn’t have a lot of friends on the island which would have been really sad, but somehow talking to a dinosaur who would respond in random screeches and clicks was somehow a comfort.

She smiles at the memories that seem like they happened centuries ago. Finally calmer she stands up from the floor, hangs the picture back on the wall, then goes to the door, unlocks both locks and pulls to have it swing open freely.

She walks over to her bike, climbs aboard and sticks the key in the ignition, but when she turns it, it just sputters for a minute before it dies. She tries again and it sputters, then dies. She get off the bike and kneels down to look at the engine and it's very obvious what the problem is and now she’s angry at Owen for a completely different reason. He has taken her spark plug out of her bike. She laughs out of anger, bewilderment and genuine amazement. Of course he took her spark plug, he knew the second he left she would try to leave as well. So if course he took away her only mode of transportation. He could’ve taken her keys, but he knew she’d just hot wire it, so he had to make it completely undriveable. She’s angry, yes, but she had to admit it was a stroke of genius. Her uncle definitely knows her too well.

But there were other ways to get around, so her feet would just have to do. She goes around to the shed and pulls out her hiking pack, that has been very neglected since Owen had bought her the bike, slings it over her shoulder, and she starts down the drive.


	3. Indominus Wrecks

If Riley had a favorite place in the park, besides the raptor paddock, it would be the valley. It’s mainly used for Gyrosphere tours but nobody came to the edge where the dinosaurs rested. They all wanted to be where they were roaming and playing, where the action was. Riley saw enough action dealing with raptors everyday. Sometimes it was nice to just relax.

She used Owen’s security pass to enter through the back gate, she finds a nice shaded tree to sit under. Some other stegosaurus had the same idea, lying under the trees for shade. From afar she can see some brachiosauruses eating while they sang to each other. 

Riley could get lost in this place. Here she could stroke the still rough skin of the stegosaurus’, and if she climbed high enough in a tree, get a brachio to take a branch from her. While the Raptors were like family these giants were like a weird pet. 

In fact she could apparently get a little too lost in the valley, because when she finally decided to check her phone she had nine missed calls, three voicemails, and five angry texts from her uncle. After she read the one about calling him back or being grounded till the end of time, her phone rang again. She picked up immediately.

“Hello?”

“Riley!” he says and she could hear the panic in his voice. “Why haven’t you been answering your phone? Where are you?” She looks around quickly, thinking.

“Where are you?”

“I’m leaving the visitors center right now.”

That means she still has time. She starts to head towards the far side of the valley. If she goes through the restricted section and follows around the lake she can get back to the house before he does. “Then I am at home. Exactly as I should be.” She grabs her pack and pulls it over her shoulders.

“Riles, I know you. You snuck away five minutes after I left.” She sighs heavily. There were pros and cons to growing up with her uncle as her guardian. Pro: Most of the time he acted like her best friend rather than a guardian. They were super close and had a pretty good relationship. Con: They were so close that they pretty much knew every move the other was going to make before they made it. “Where are you really?”

She sighs. “I’m on the edge of the valley.”

“No, no, no, no, no,” he panics. “Riley stay exactly where you are I’m coming to get you.”

She looks around starting to get panicked as well. “Why? What? Why? What’s wrong?” 

“We have a code 19. The Indominus Rex got loose. We’re in a Phase One: Real world. Half the park is closed down.”

“What!” She starts walking faster towards the exit. “Then why are you coming this way?”

“Claire’s nephews stole one of the gyrospheres. They’re still in the valley.” When she finally gets to the gate, she freezes in her tracks. The gate is almost ripped entirely off its hinges. But that’s not the worst part. The grass is flattened making what vaguely looks like gyrosphere tracks leading straight into the restricted section.

“Owen?”

“What?”

“These boys that stole the gyrosphere, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to… drive into the restricted section if the gate was wide open would they?”

“Oh my god,” she hears Claire's voice say in the background and that’s all the confirmation she needs. 

“Owen they’re heading straight for paddock eleven. What do I do?” she asks really starting to freak out.

“Nothing! Don’t do a thing! Stay there we’re on our way.”

“Owen the visitors center is twenty minutes away. A lot can happen in twenty minutes.” She takes a deep breath and lowers her voice so Claire can’t hear her. “If the Indominus is close… those boys are gonna die.”

“Riles what are you thinking?” he asks cautiously. He knows what she's thinking, before she's even thought it. Riley turns her terrible reckless thought over in her mind. At this point they must have already tried ACU and failed or else Owen wouldn’t be coming out here himself. And before she even decides what she's doing her feet start to shuffle closer to the gate almost of their own accord.

“You're not gonna like it.”

“Riley,” he says low, half threateningly and half worried.

“This our home. Our Island. We’re responsible for all of its inhabitants, not just the cold blooded ones. Remember?”

“Riley!” he warns her. 

She hangs up before he can argue with her any more. Her feet have shuffled her forward and now she stood at the opening of the gate.

* * *

“No, no. Bad idea. Bad idea,” Gray keeps repeating as they drive through the jungle.

“Great idea,” Zach argues.

“No! We’re gonna get arrested, they’ll shave our heads, and we’re gonna have to make root beer in the toilet,” Gray says panicking. He hates when his brother gets him into situations like this.

“What are you talking about?” Zach turns the ball around some trees only to find what they were looking for in the first place. A whole new set of dinosaurs. “See, I told you. You're welcome.” He gestures to the animals. “Up close and personal with four…dinosauruses,” he says, not knowing the name.

“Ankylosaurus,” Gray corrects him. “We shouldn’t be here. And there are five dinosaurs.”

Zach looks at his brother and then back to the dinosaurs. Nope, he still counted four. “Aren’t you supposed to be some genius or something?” Zach mocks his brother. “Look,” Zach counts pointing to each dinosaur as he goes, “One, two, three, four.”

Gray slowly raises a finger to point straight in front of them. “Five,” he says breathlessly. It’s then Zach see what he’s talking about. Reflected in the glass of their ball is a huge set of sharp teeth. They both slowly turn around to see a fifty foot dinosaur standing behind them. 

It screeches loudly and both boys start to scream. “Go, go, go!” Gray yells at his brother. Zach reaches for the control, but the Rex charges forward kicking them out of the way to run for the Ankylosaurus’. They spin wildly bouncing between trees and the other dinosaurs, all the while Gray is screaming. 

“Pull it together man!” Zach yells. He finally gains control of the sphere and brings them to a stop. Unfortunately he stopped them right between the Rex and the Ankylo. The boys watch frozen as they circle the ball. Then the Rex roars loudly. And starts to charge. Zach tries to steer them away but out of nowhere the Ankylosaurus hits them with its hammer tail. It cracks the glass and sends them skidding backwards into a tree. The crash throws them off their axis and now they're sitting upside down. They can't move. They sit there and watch as the Rex tries to attack the smaller dino. Realizing it can't bite through its tough shell it scratches it's leg, wounding it enough for it to collapse and to flip it over just before she strikes it’s neck and tears it’s head off. Gray has to look away from the gore. He chooses to look to his brother instead. “We're safe in here right?” he asks for confirmation.

“Yeah totally safe,” Zach reassures his little brother, and himself. Just then there's a buzzing sound. They both look above them to realize, Zach’s phone had fallen out of his pocket in the commotion and is now vibrating against the glass, making a bunch of noise, as their aunt Claire calls. Zach quickly tries to reach for it but is just out of his reach while he’s strapped to the top.

“Zach,” Gray quietly whispers.

“I’ve almost got it,” he says still reaching.

“Zach,” he says again.

“Yeah?”  
“Look.” Zach looks out the front of their ball only to see a huge eye looking back at them. Zach’s stomach drops and fear takes over his body. They freeze as it watches them. Gray reaches over and grabs his brothers arm. Then it blinks, stands up, and actually moves the ball. It turns it to face the right direction before slamming a claw straight through the glass and pulling it upright to look the boys in the eyes. It looks at them and they look back at it, literally staring death in the face. They scream as the dinosaur opens its mouth and descends upon the ball, biting into it. But it can’t break through. So it picks up the ball and slams it back on the ground breaking the glass even more. She does it again, breaking the glass out of the back. She lifts it and slams it down again but this time there’s someone new in the ball with them. The person quickly unbuckles them and yanks them out from their seats onto the ground as the ball raises back up. Zach looks up to see very quickly that it’s a girl before he’s grabbed by the back of the neck and pushed to the ground again as the ball is slammed back down around them.

When it’s lifted the girl pushes them both to their feet. “Run!” she yells at them and they all take off sprinting. The Indominus slams the ball back down, completely destroying it and realizes the boys are no longer in it. Once it spots the three it roars and starts chasing after them. “Come on! This way,” the girl yells to them as she leads them through the jungle. Finally they come out on the other side of the trees into a clearing.

She's significantly faster than both of them. They keep running with the Indominus right behind them. They boys follow the girl until she suddenly jumps and falls out of their view. “Hey!” Zach calls after her. He comes come to a screeching halt at the edge of a cliff and catches Gray from falling. They both look over just in time to see her splash into a river 100 feet below. A roar is heard behind them and they turn to see the Indominus breaking out of the trees and sprinting towards them. “We’re gonna have to jump,” Zach tells Gray.

“I can’t.” Gray yells panicked.

Zach doesn't give him an option. “Are you ready, one, two…” He grabs Grays arm and pulls him off the edge of the cliff and they both descend into the water below, just nearly avoiding the snap of the Indominus’ teeth.

The dinosaur roars down into the waterfall in frustration before walking away. The boys burst to the surface gasping for air and start swimming over to the bank where the girl is now climbing out. Zach pulls himself onto the muddy bank and helps pull Grey up as well. The brothers take a second to look at one another, now realizing what they had just done. 

“We jumped,” Zach says out loud. They both laugh out of fear and amazement more than humor. Zach wraps his arm around his brother and pulls him close. When their moment is over they both get up and Zach looks over his brother for any injuries. Finally he looks over to their savior. The girl is wringing out her soaking wet hair, and as its flipped over her shoulder, Zach realizes she quiet young, No older than he is, and quiet pretty.

“Thank you,” Zach says to her not knowing what else to say. She doesn't say anything but looks up at him as she shrugs off her backpack, almost glaring at him. I’m Zach,” he introduces himself, then gestures to the younger brother, “and this is my brother Gray.”

She sighs heavily. “Which one of you geniuses decided to take joyride through a restricted area?” she bites at them. 

“It was his idea! I told him to go back.” Gray points at his brother in blame.

“Thanks man.” Zach groans. Zach look back the girl just in time to see her swing her backpack at him. It hits him in the the arm and he jumps back. “Ow!”

“Idiot!” she yells at him. She swings the pack at him again but this time he catches it and yanks it out of her hands.

“Would you stop!”

She then picks up handfuls of leaves and mud and starts throwing then at him. “What were you thinking?”

“Are you crazy?” He screams at her and uses her own pack as a shield from her attacks. She stops throwing her mud clumps for a few seconds frantically looking around the ground and she must have found what she was looking for because she bends  into some tall grass to pick something up. When Zach realizes what it was his eyes get huge. She rises with a long, thick branch and starts stepping towards him, branch raised and ready to swing. Zach backs up and trips over a rock, falling to the ground.  He puts his hands up to defend himself. “Woah! Woah! Woah!” Gray has stepped a few safe feet away at this point. The girl doesn't swing seeing how scared the boys are and drops it on the ground next to her. “What is your problem!” Zach yells.

“My problem?” She walks a little more forward and Zach starts to flinch, but she just picks up the pack he dropped, then walks a few yards away and sits on a rock with a huff.

The boys, frozen in fear, exchange glances of shock. A minute passes by before Gray moves to help his brother up from the mud. Zach brushes himself off and watches the girl out of the side of his eye. She runs her finger through her hair and starts to braid it one wet braid down her back. “Is it just me, or did she seem a lot nicer when she was saving our lives?” Gray asks. Zach rolls his eyes. 

The three wash the mud off of them and squeeze as much water as they can out of their clothing. The girl goes through her pack dumping anything that couldn't be saved from the water, including her phone. She fiddles with it for minute trying to turn it on before finally giving up and throwing it back into the pack, and angrily zips it back up. She sends a side glare towards the boys who are trying their best to dry off. She ties her flannel around her waist and throws her backpack over her shoulders.

When he starts to walk back over to the boys, they stand quickly ready if she attacks again. Seeing them scared she shakes her head. “I'm sorry for attacking you,” she says, though it comes off ingenuine. “Are you hurt?”

They shake their heads. “No, we're good,” Gray tells her.

She nods. “Good. The visitors center is about five miles, that way.” She points behind her. “If we're gonna make it there before the sun goes down, we should leave now. Can you make it?” They both nod. “Alright, let's go then.”  She turns to lead them up into the jungle but Zach stops her.

“Wait,” he calls and she turns around, “We don't even know your name.”

She sighs, “I'm Riley.”

* * *

The three teenagers trek through the trees. Riley is significantly fast than Zach or Gray, easily climbing up hills, over rocks, and through mud. While the boys, slip and trip every now and again. Not to mention running out of breath to keep up with her. They're not even a mile into their trip when they happen across a gruesome sight. Riley stops a few yards away but Gray runs forward and picks up a Jurassic World world hard hat. Accept the hat is cracked and covered in dirt and blood. He starts to hyperventilate, realizing the dinosaur had to have been through here already. Riley snatches the hat from him and covers his eyes, “Gray, close your eyes okay, sweetheart.”

“Why?” he asks but still closes them.

“Just keep ‘em closed okay.” Zach comes up behind them and Riley pushed Gray into his brother to keep him away from and even less pretty sight. Gray wraps his arms around his brother and hides his face in his chest. “You got him?” Zach nods and Riley leads the way towards the buggie. The car has been ripped to pieces and, if the blood was any indication, the people who were in it we're surely dead. But Riley steps up to the vehicle looking for any signs of life. There were three large claw marks in the front driver seat. Zach follows, stumbling as he tries to lead a blind Gary. Riley leads them down an indeterminate path occasionally straying left or right looking for survivors from the wreckage, but she can't find any signs someone walked away from that.

“Riley,” Zach gets her attention. She turns to see him gesturing towards a door that is completely covered by greenery. Riley follows him up what used to be concrete steps and marvels at the door. In all of her time here she’s never been to this part of the island. It’s a restricted area, condemned years ago.

“Gray you can open your eyes now.”

“Thanks.” he lets go of his brothers waist and slowly blinks into the light. Riley pushes against the door but it won't budge. 

“Here help me with this,” she orders the boys. It takes all three of them to push the rusted doors open but when they do, they reveal a huge room overtaken by vines.

“Wow,” Zach says in awe. They look around what must have been an old part of the original park. It quiet dark they wouldn't be able to see anything if it weren’t for the light coming the sky light. Riley steps forward looking up at the broken glass ceiling and kicks something. She looks down and picks up what looks like a giant bone, but under closer inspection she realizes what it is.

“This is a T-rex claw,” she says in disbelief, running her hand across it.

“There’s a hallway over here!” Gray calls out to them.

“Gray don’t stray to far. It’s too dark you don’t know what's down there,” Riley warns. Zach behind her kicks around some leaves on the ground to reveal some colorful wording. He bends down next to her and picks up what looks like an old, torn banner with just the word  “Ruled” on it. He looks at the paper banner and the claw and she can see the gears turning in his head as he looks between the items.

“You still have those matches?” he asks Gray. Gray digs through his fanny pack and pulls out a box of matches. 

“Here ya go.” He hands them to Zach.

“Thanks.” Then he looks at Riley. “Can I see that? “ he asks politely, and points down to the claw.

She hands it over to him and he ties the banner around the top. Then he strikes one of the matches to catch the makeshift torch on fire. 

Zach leads the way through the hall, lighting the way. Riley stops to admire the mural of many different dinosaurs along the wall. Zach stops to run his hand over a painting of a Velociraptor and Riley watches him admiring the art work. 

“Hey, what's that?” Zach asks snapping Riley and Gray away from the paintings and down the hall towards an open door. He’d leads them into a sort of garage. Gray picks up what looks like and outdated pair of night vision goggles. When they automatically turn on he gets startled and drops them quickly and runs back towards his brother. They all circle around what looks like an old tan Jeep with the words Jurassic Park written on the side. 

“1992 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, sand beige,” Gray easily rattles off the make, model, and color of the car and Riley’s impressed at just how smart this kid is. She looks over at Zach again and she can tell he has an idea. 

“You remember when we fixed up Grandpa’s old Malibu?” He asks Gray.

“Yeah?”


	4. The Warm-Blooded Ones

Riley greases up the last wheel on the track. “Alright that ought to do it,” she says and sits the can of grease off to the side. “Gray, you want to give me a hand?” Gray gets up from his seat on top of a toolbox and walks over to help her. They both grab the bottom of the garage door and yank it a couple inches up. It floods the garage with light and fresh air. They open it slowly stopping every time the wheels screech. Riley makes a face at the high pitched whines, either pursing her lips and closing her eyes tightly or gritting her teeth together. “Shhh,” she tells Gray as they come near to the end of the track and the wheels scream again. They stop for a second. “Alright ready?” she asks the boy and he nods. “One, two, three!” They both push off with all their might and the door slides all the way open and crashes against the end of the track, and rust falls from overhead. Both of them freeze at the loud sound, Riley's hands go out to her side as if trying to steady herself and both of their eyes widen as they listen for any sign of movement outside. Thirty seconds go by and nothing happens. “I think we’re good,” Riley says as she lets out the breath she was holding. Both of them move again, relaxing. Gray walks back over to his seat on top of the toolbox and Riley walks over to Zach who had popped the hood on both jeeps to access them.

“What’s the damage?” she asks him looking between the two engines.

“Hard to say. I'm not exactly an expert. I think its it's the timing belt,” he tells her. Taking a quick look under both hoods she sees the problem and knows how to fix it immediately, but she knows if she points it out so quick he’ll probably get upset. As Owen says, ‘No one likes a smart ass.’ So she decides to try to guide him towards the answer.

“Alright. How can I help?” she ask.

Zach gives her a questioning and shocked look. Obviously not expecting her to want to help. “Umm...I guess you can…” he looks around trying to find a job for her to do. Finally he points at a tool cart a few feet away, “Hand me a wrench?” She looks at the tools and then back to him. She shakes her head and chuckles. She walks over and takes the wrench from the cart, then tosses it at his feet. She wasn't going to be a damn assistant. He jumps to avoid it hitting his foot as it clatters to the ground. He picks up the tool and stands up to give her a ‘what the hell?!’ type look, but she’s already walking away. She grabs and old metal bucket, takes it over next to the toolbox Gray is sitting on, flips it over, and takes a seat next to him. “Is he always so...prideful?” she asks the younger brother.

Gray cocks his head to the side in a noncommittal gesture while messing with his shoelaces. “Sometimes.”

“Doesn’t that drive you crazy?”

Gray shrugs. “I guess. But that’s kind of what family does.” She shakes her head in annoyance. “Don't you have siblings that drive you crazy?”

Riley has always considered the Raptors to be like her siblings, but she doesn't think she’s ever been annoyed with them. Then again she can always explain away they're unusual behavior with the excuse that they were animals and didn't know any better. She wonders what Zach's excuse is. “I grew with it being just my uncle and I, so no.”

“Where is he, your uncle?” Gray asks.

“He’s out there. He’s probably looking for us right now,” she tells him and he smiles hopeful.

“Don’t lie to him,” Zach grumbles without looking up from the engine. Riley slowly looks over to the teen glaring.

“Excuse me?” she bites. Zach stops his work, rolls his eyes, and fixes Riley with a glare that rivals her own.

“Your uncle isn’t looking for us. He’s probably on lock down, at the resort, like the rest of the visitors here.” He switches his attention to his little brother, who’s face had been stripped the hope it had before. “Nobody’s looking for us, Gray. Why do you think I’m over here fixing this stupid thing?” He hits the side of the Jeep in frustration.

“For your information, my uncle and I aren’t visitors. He knows this jungle and everything in it like back of his hand. He knows how to track us and he’s out there with your aunt. They are going to find us.”

“I knew you looked familiar!” Gray says amazed. “You’re Raptor Riley!” If people really followed what was going on at the park, they would know about her, her uncle, and the annoying nickname everyone called her.

“Who?” Zach questions.

“Her and her uncle broke ground in the raptor animal training program. They raised a small group of raptors from birth and  actually became apart of the pack! You're amazing. I've read everything you and your uncle have written on the raptor program.” Riley hates the attention most of the time but Gray is so excited she couldn’t help but smile.

“Aunt Claire’s out in the jungle looking for us?” Zach asks softening. The building argument seemingly squashed by Grays endorsement of the parks ‘raptor girl’.

“How do you think I found you so fast?” Zach rubs the back of his neck almost embarrassed before silently turning back to the Jeep. Riley takes her eye off him finally instead looking at the floor. She uses both hands to wipe the few falling hairs back into her braid. Gray looks up to watch the motion and takes notice of her bandaged wrist.

“Your wrap’s are wet,” he states. She looks at her wrist to see a some blood has soaked through the wraps and the once white gauze has turned brown from the water and mud she’s been through today. She shrugs it off.

“I'll be fine.” She looks back up, but Gray still seems concerned. He drops to his knees from the toolbox and unzips his fanny pack to go through it.

“You’ll get an infection that way,” he argues. “I have some more bandages.” He pulls out a small first aid kit the sure enough has a small roll of new bandage in it.

“No, Gray. It’s fine really,” she tries to assure him but he grabs her arm anyway and goes to work unwrapping her wrist.

He cleans her wound, wiping it down with disinfectant, putting a small amount of some sort of cream on it gently with his finger, and then wraps it again. “Is that too tight?” he asks as he ties it up. She gives him an endearing smile and shakes her head.

“No. Thank you.” Gray smiles back then let's go of her arm. A loud clang interrupts them and they both look over at Zach who’s holding his right hand and cursing under his breath.

“Dammit!” he hisses. He looks over at them and sees that Riley has a smug grin on her face. Not wanting to give her the satisfaction he shakes his hand out and uses it to pick up the wrench he abandoned. Riley rolls her eyes at his stubbornness, pushes herself to her feet and walks over. She slowly approaches the car and leans against the driver door nonchalantly.

“Hey, Zach,” she says as sweetly as she can, but she's pretty sure it came off condescendingly.

“What?” he bites through gritted teeth.

“Why don’t you let us help you with Grease Lightning here.” She taps on the side of the car twice. “Hmm? What do ya say?”

He just waves her off. “No, no. I’ve got it.” Her head falls back in frustration at this boy. “It’s just the timing belt. I'll have it fixed in no time.”

Riley rolls her eyes. “Yeah that's likely,” she whispers sarcastically.

“What?” Zach demands, irritated. She pushes off the Jeep.

“Nothing. Have fun there, Zuko.” She starts to walk away but hears the wrench clatter to the ground, as Zach throws it in frustration.

“What's your issue?” he yells at her.She whips her head back around so fast her hair goes with it.

“My issue?” she yells back.

“Guys,” Gray stands up and tries to interrupt.

“Yeah! You've been an insufferable, smart-ass this entire time!”

“Well my role choices were pretty limited for this group. ‘Idiot-tool’ was already taken!

“Guys! Please be quiet.” They both look back to see tears gathering in Gray eyes. It’s obvious, he’s scared.

“Gray,” Riley steps forward, grabs Gray by the shoulders, and bends down to his height, “it’s okay.”.

“Yeah, Man. We talked about this. No crying.” Zach tells him. Riley whips back to him.

“Zach!”

“What?” he throws his arms out.

“Zach says it’s childish to cry,” Gray tells her failing at calming her down. She rubs her thumbs over his shoulder trying to soothe him.

“That’s because your brother is an idiot,”  
“I’m the idiot?” Zach asks offended.

“You’re the we’re in this mess in the first place!” she yells at him without trying to raise her voice too high. She slowly approaches him with fire burning in her eyes “You come to my home, my island, steal a gyrosphere and then you’re stupid enough to drive it into a restricted area. Ever since I met you,” she pokes him in the chest and he stumbles backwards a bit, “I’ve had to save you from a forty foot dinosaur,” she pokes him again, “jump off a cliff,” poke, “into a waterfall,” poke, “and trek through unknown jungle.” She throws her arms out to and Zach reaches up to rub the sore spot she had created on his chest. “Then I have to sit here while you waste mine and everyone’s time trying to fix a timing belt, when the actual problem is the alternator in this Jeep. Which can be replaced with the one in that car over there!” She points at the other Jeep and huffs finishing her rant. Zach doesn’t say another word as she stares him down, his eyes are as wide as saucers. Gray has stopped crying behind her and they all stand in silence waiting for someone to break the silence, or move, or blink, or breath. Finally Zach steps around Riley. He walks over to where the wrench had landed when he threw it. He silently  picks it up then twirls it around in his fingers for a little. He finally looks back up at Riley then holds out the wrench handle to her. She slowly takes it as if she’s waiting for a catch.

“What do we do?”

 

* * *

 

Riley has been slaving over the car for a little over a half an hour and is just about finished. Gray is standing in the garage door way and Zach is sitting on the toolbox glancing up at her every now and then. She feels his eye peer up and land on her once again. She stops her work, sighing and looks over at him just in time to see him quickly look away. She rolls her eyes at his obviousness. “Hey, Zach,” she calls but the older boy doesn’t look up.

“Yeah?” he asks while shuffling his foot across the concrete ground.

“Come here.” She beckons him over and he complies, pushing himself up and meandering over. “Here.” She hands him the wrench and he takes it confused before he bends over the Jeep with her.

“What’s up?”

“I need to get the battery out in order to replace the alternator but I need help.” Zach nods in understanding and leans in under the hood to start.

“Where did you learn to do this anyway?” he asks curious.

“My uncle, Owen, he likes to keep busy. We have a ton of these old Jeeps on the island. Sometimes he takes them, fixes them up. I pay attention.” She shrugs like it’s no big deal. Zach nods, pursing his lips, impressed and begins to unscrew some wires. Riley looks over to Gray who’s still standing in the doorway, passing the time by throwing pebbles into some brush. She figures he’s out of ear shot but still lowers her voice, “Why did you tell Gray that it’s childish to cry?”

Zach scoffs. “He took that totally out of context. He thinks our parents our getting a divorce.” Growing up with a single uncle she’s never thought about things like divorce and how that could affect a kid like Gary.

“Are they?” she asks prying. Zach pauses his work and his shoulders slump as he looks up at her. “I know it sounds bad, but...I hope so.”

Her eyebrows knit together in shock. “Why?”

“All they ever do is fight. They try to hide it, think Gray and I don’t notice. But it’s been long overdue. It happens, it’s no big deal.” He starts back up on unscrewing the battery. She can’t believe his indifference to something so tragic.

“It is to Gray. And you think telling him to ‘grow up’ is the best thing for him? He’s just a child.”

“Yeah and he’s also my brother,” Zach says stopping what he’s doing and facing her. “I screw sometimes but I am trying to do what’s best for him. Especially now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m not an idiot. I know I’m tough on him, but it makes him stronger.” He turns back to the Jeep and this time it’s Riley’s turn to feel like the jerk she’s made Zach to be all day. He’s trying to hide it but underneath, but she can tell Zach really does care about his brother. “He’s a good kid but if you’d see the way the other kids treat him back in Ohio. I’m about to leave for college and if our parents really are getting divorced, he gonna have to grow some thick skin and fast. I just can’t be there to protect him forever.” Riley stares at him scrutinizingly. Zach must have felt the hole she was drilling in the side of his head cause he looks back up at her. “What?” he asks. Her face softens as she takes a deep breath.

“I shouldn’t have yelled at you.” He gives him a questioning look but neither one of them breaks eye contact. Suddenly Zach’s lips twitch into a shy smirk. “What?” she asks her lips starting to pull into a smile themselves. He shrugs now smiling fully. “Why are you looking at me like that?” He clears his throat and averts his gaze back to the engine.

“I’m not looking at you like anything.” She smirks and opens her mouth to say something else but then she hears a snap as he pulls the battery out of its place. “Got it. Gray, come over here.” His little brother drops his handful of pebbles and comes to stand beside the Jeep as Zach pulls out the battery. Just then a sound comes from outside, they all jump and freeze. “Do you think it’s out there?” Zach asks Riley. He looks outside but from his peripheral can see his little brother’s eyes widen in fear and hear him breathing harder. Zach shakes off his own fear quickly and puts on a brave face for Gray’s sake. “Cause I know for a fact, that it is definitely not out there,” he says recovering. “Alright? We’re totally safe,” he assures. “Here, take this.” He hands the heavy battery to Gray and the boy struggles to hold it. “You’re stronger than me.” Zach goes to take the alternator out of the other jeep and Riley smiles slightly to herself.

 

* * *

 

A while later they finally get the alternator replaced and the battery back in. Zach strips off his flannel and wipes his hand clean before he tosses it to Riley. She catches it with ease but gives him a questioning look. “You have grease on your face,” he tells her  gesturing to her left cheek. She groans.

“Thanks,” she says wiping the black smudge away then tosses it over near the toolbox as Zach screws the last piece into the engine. “Alright,” he says confident in their work, “turn it over.” Gray, sitting in the driver’s seat, turns the key in the ignition. The car sputters for a moment but then roars to life bringing smiles to their faces. “Whoo!” Zach cheers.

“It works!” Gray celebrates with him.

“Do you hear that?” he asks Riley.

“Yeah and so does probably half the jungle. We have to get out of here,” she rushes them. Zach slams the hood shut and they all jump in the car with Zach behind the wheel.

“I thought you failed your driver's test?” Gray asks.

“What!” Riley exclaims from the back seat.

“Relax. Okay?” he tries to calm her. “I only failed the driving part.” He smirks at her through the rear view mirror. Riley’s eyes widen and she holds on tight as he speeds off making the wheels screech as they bolt through the thick trees.


	5. Nine to Survival Job

Zach speeds faster as Riley directs him towards Gate 5. “Alright now straight through that fence,” she directs hesitantly. He presses on the gas harder and she grips tightly to the seat as they get closer and closer to the fence before finally bursting through.

“Woah!” Zach exclaims and both of the boys laugh.

“Okay that’s it. We’re safe now,” Riley sighs in relief. Zach looks back at her smiling ear to ear and she rolls her eyes but smiles too. Their happy moment is interrupted though when a loud screeching sound comes from the sky behind them.

“Go, go, go!” Gray screams at them. They both look back to see dozens of flying dinosaurs heading their way.

“Oh shit,” Zach says to himself.

“Go!” Riley screams at him too. He quickly shifts gears and speeds way ahead of the flock. They follow the dirt road down until finally gate 5 appears over the hill. “There’s the gate.” Riley’s heart is racing a hundred miles per hour.

“Hey!” Gray yells seeing the two guards on top of the tower. “Open the gate!”

“Help!” Zach joins his brother and Riley jump in as well.

She waves her hands above her head in a panic, as if the guards would miss the giant Jeep driving down the never-used road. “Open the gate!” she yells with the boys. Another screech follows them as the flock flies into the clearing. Riley doesn’t look back, too scared too. Instead she see the two guards hop into action and the gate starts to open with loud sirens and flashing lights. Zach drives through the opening and brings the Jeep to a jerking halt. As they all hop out, an announcement comes on ever the loud speaker.

“Ladies and gentlemen, due to a containment anomaly all guests must take shelter immediately.” The speaker starts to blast a monotone siren just as the flock of prehistoric bird darken the sky above them. Zach slowly reaches out and grabs Riley’s hand to get her attention, or for comfort? She turns to stare at the side of his face. Both boys eyes are glued to the sky.

“Maybe we should go find your Uncle?” Zach suggests. Gray is nodding furiously. She nods along with him.

“Good idea,” she reciprocates. In tandem they all turn on their toes and run towards the crowded park main street. People are rushing around, pushing and shoving, trying to find safety. Riley can’t see a lot in all of the commotion. Pterodactyls are swooping down, picking people off the street, Dimorphodon are crashing into shops and restaurant.

“Zach! Gray!” A tall woman with long black hair screams at them from afar, her British accent making her sound more frantic. Zach, having never let go of her hand, pulls her towards the woman.

“Where’s Aunt Claire?” Zach yells over the screams of the visitors. One guest pushes past her, knocking her into Zach. She grabs tightly to his arm s they can't be separated. Gray is grabbing onto the tail of Riley’s shirt, and the woman is being knocked around as people rush by.

“She’s at the north-west gate,” she informs them and is nearly pushed to the ground in the process.

“That’s this way.” Riley points towards the movie theater. “Come on.” Riley now leading the way pulls Zach by the hand, and has Gray on her heels. The British lady struggles to keep up as they try their hardest to push through the crowd. They push out into the open before the visitors center. Riley stops and turns to change direction but Gray continues straight. Before she knows what’s happening Zach lets go of her hand and quickly grabs his brother. He pulls him back just nearly avoiding the Pterodactyl the swoops down to snap at them. Riley grabs onto both boys shoulders, a silent ask. They both give a short nod that they’re okay. The British woman finally catches up and seeing the kids have stopped moving.

Clearly annoyed and panicked she starts to yell at them, “Don’t just stand ther-” But before she can finish a bird comes down and snatches her from the ground. She drops her bag as the giant bird flies away with her. It drops her for only a moment before another pterodactyl catches her mid-air. When this one drops her though it’s into the tank.

The kids rush over to see her struggling, screaming as another bird picks, and dips her in and out of the water. It sinks it’s talons into her and tries to fly away. Just then the Mesosaurus breaches the water and with one bite captures the bird and the woman before taking them back under with it.

The children's eyes are wide with shock, and horror. Gray’s mouth is gaping and he reaches back to Zach for support. “That’s unfortunate,” Riley says rather obviously.

“Go,” Zach bring the back to the fairly serious situation at hand. He grabs his brother’s arm and pushes back towards the theater. “Get inside now!” He reaches out towards Riley and she offers her hand this time, letting him pull her faster than before. They make it past Margaritaville, past the Trader’s, they’re close to the gate now. “Aunt Claire!” Zach shouts into the crowd hoping she will reveal herself. Guards are now out on the street shooting the birds down with tranquilizers. Riley feels it before she sees it, the looming presence behind them. She watches as a guardsman aims his gun just above their heads and shoots at the creature coming up behind them. Even if the tranquilizers hit it though, the bird is still coming for them. Riley pushes herself forward harder and forcefully shoulders into Zach. He falls into Gray and they all dive off to the side and fall to the ground. They scramble towards the arcade building to get away but the bird still veers towards them. Zach scootches backwards taking the two with him. He wraps his arm around Riley's shoulders pulling her back to his chest and pushes Gray as far against the wall as he can with his other arm. The birds sharp beak keeps coming ever closer. Riley grabs Zachs arm with both hands, turns her face into his neck and closes her eyes, hiding from what happens next. But nothing does. She feels Zach let out the breath he was holding and when she opens her eyes to peek she sees that the Pterodactyl had come within inches of spearing them.

They’re all panting heavily. “Up,” Zach taps her shoulders and she obeys slowly working around the birds mouth. She gets to her feet and helps the boys up as well. Zach grabs the side of her face and looks it over, making sure she isn't scratched. “You okay?” he asks and she nods against his hand. Zach’s eyes drift over her shoulder and take on a look of recognition. “Is that Aunt Claire?”

Riley whips around, and sure enough sees their aunt. Still in her white power suite and heels, though it’s very dirty now, she looks disheveled and she’s  holding a gun which she’s pointing at a fallen Dimorphodon lying next to Owen.

She helps her Uncle up from the ground and hands him back his gun, but he quickly lowers it in favor of taking hold of her and pulling her in for a kiss that clearly surprises her but she quickly melts in to.

All three kids watch in confusion for the few seconds the kiss lasts. When the couple does pull apart Claire’s eyes skew away from Owen and land on the boys. Her face is overcome with joy and she darts off in their direction. Riley making eye contact with Owen does the same, breaking off from Zach and rushing towards her uncle.

“Owen!” She yells running towards him. She can see the relief on his face as she runs into his arms.

“Thank god,” he sighs as he holds her closer. The stress she’s built up from this day instantly melts away while in his arms and her body releases tears she didn’t realize she had been holding back. He pushes her away just enough to take in her face. “Never do that again!” he tells her sternly. “That was so stupid Riley. World record stupid! You could've been killed. I told you to stay safe. This is not safe.” he shakes her shoulders slightly.

“Are seriously lecturing me right now?” she laughs out around her sobs.

He rolls his eyes and pulls her back into his chest. “You had me scared to death.”

“I’m sorry,” she says into his shirt.

He places a kiss on the top of her head. “I can’t lose you kid.” It was a simple statement but Riley knew what he meant.”

“I love you too,” she says back.” He pulls away and cups her face in his hand.

“Also,” he starts, “for putting me through all that. You are grounded.”

She shrugs. “Understandable.”

“...for the rest of your life,” he adds.

She chuckles. “Okay,” she agrees simply, just happy to be back with her family. Owen drapes an arm around her shoulders and they slowly walk over to where Claire is checking over Zach and Gray.

“Hey,” Owen says breaking up the reunion. “We gotta go.”

“Okay,” Claire agrees and gathers the kids together. “Come on.” She ushers them into a side alley. They walk down some back corridors and Riley can tell they’re heading towards the control room. “Lowry,” Claire says into her phone confirming Riley’s assumption. “I’m heading back to you.” They cutting through back corridors and alleyways, dodging left and right as park workers rush around. They almost look out of place with how calm they are now that they are all reunited. "What do you mean use the raptors?" she exclaims to person on the other end of the line. Riley and Owen stop in their tracks.

"What!?" Riley yells.

"So. Of. A. Bitch," Owen drawls out each word. Just then an InGen helicopter flies over them heading in the direction of the raptor habitat.

"You shouldn't say bitch," Gray adds in. Riley pulls him back and places a hand over his mouth.

"Take the kids. Get them somewhere safe" he tells Claire. Riley’s about to protest but she never gets the chance. The giant gate behind them begins to shake before bursting open. It’s like a dam has broken, out spills waves of people all trying to climb past one another. A giant Pterodactyl flies above them. The five run deeper down the corridor, away from trying to simultaneously out run the river of people and the prehistoric bird. Owen ushers them all into a jeep a few yards away. He slides behind the wheel and quickly starts it as the crowd of hundreds grow nearer.

“Go, go, go!” Gray yells as Owen shifts it in reverse.

“You got this. Just drive!” Zach yells too.

“Come on, Owen,” Riley joins them in the back seat. Owen hits the gas and  throws everyone forward in their seat. After a few seconds going straight back he suddenly makes a sharp turn and parks perfectly in a side cove. They jerk to a stop and everyone is panting.

“This does not seem safe,” Zach says as the people stampede past.

"Can we stay with you?" Gray asks.

"I am never leaving you as long as you live." Claire answers but the boys cut her off.

"No, no, him," they say together and point to Owen. They all exchanged awkward looks. They don't mean to make Clare feel bad, but clearly Owen is more experienced in how to deal in a crisis.

"Yeah definitely him," Gray adds on.

When they finally pull up to the raptor habitat Owen wastes no time bring the jeep to a halt and immediately getting out. Everything is worse than what Riley had imagined. There are dozens of InGen people walking around with weapons, six of them are in the box with the raptors, who they’ve locked in their containment cells. "Boys, stay in the car." Claire tells them as she and Riley follow after Owen. He’s striding towards the box as Hoskins come out to greet the them looking smug. Even from behind though, Riley can tell how heated Owen is..

Hoskins doesn’t help matters any as a smile spreads across his greasy face and he triumphantly announces, “The mother hen has finally arrived!” His arrogant expression is knocked, quite literally, off his face as Owen gets within a few feet of him, rears back his arm, and punches him. Hoskins almost falls into the mud at the force, but even so Riley thinks he should thank his lucky stars for the warning shot, because there is no doubt his jaw would be broken had Owen used his full strength. A few InGen soldiers have rushed forward towards the altercation as Hoskins holds his jaw, as if to see it’s still there.

"Get the the hell out of here.” Owen practically grows this order but his face stays unbelievable calm. “And stay away from my animals,” he finishes. Riley and Claire manage to catch up to him flanking him on either side.

"Hoskins you wanted this to happen you son of a bitch." Claire spits at him over Owens left shoulder.

“Ah, Jesus,” he acts put off by her accusation. “How many more people have to die before this mission starts to make sense to you?” he asks trying to reason with Owen.

“It’s not a mission,” Barry interrupts and comes to stand on their side of the metaphorical line being drawn in the dirt. “It’s a field test,” he corrects. And he’s right. The raptors aren’t ready for something like this, Hoskins just wants to prove a point. He wants the raptors to be ready. He wants them for personal gain. There’s a bigger chance that things could go wrong in this little experiment of his and when they do Hoskins will make sure he’s not the one who goes down for it. Which isn’t good news for Owen.

“This is an InGen situation now,” he says more firmly, completely ignoring their threats and insults. “Okay? There are going to be cruise ships that show up here at the first light. Everybody is going to get off this island! You’re going to watch a news story tomorrow about how you all saved lives. No, no, better yet. How your animals saved lives!” He’s trying to convince them of a greater good but Riley knows he’s doing this for selfish reasons. She scoffs and shakes her head. From the box a few yards away she hears a commotion. The group looks over to see Charlie struggle in her containment cell, bashing her head against the bars, screeching and growling, while two guards try strapping cameras to her head.

"Hey!” Riley yells at them, but they are unfazed. “Leave her alone!” She takes off towards the box and gets to the barred door before one of the soldiers scoops her up around the waist and lifts her off the ground. He starts to carry her away but Owen cuts them off putting a hand in the middle of the soldiers chest.

"Put her down now!" Owen demands and he sounds scarier than Riley has ever heard him. The guard hesitantly obeys and once her feet touch the ground, Riley rips herself from his grasp. She runs over to Charlie as they finish strapping the camera to her head. She's still thrashing and angry and the soldiers look lost as of what to do. “Back. Off,” Riley bites at them and they slowly back away. She slowly reaches for Charlie and the raptor tries to jerk away from her as if she’s scared so she retracts her hand, but that’s not what it is. Riley can see it in their eyes. The loss of trust. Owen and her weren't there to protect them from this cruelty. Tears of guilt and anger at the situation begin to pool in Riley’s eyes. She reaches out a hand again, the reptile having calmed down enough this time to let her stroke her. Riley looks over the expensive equipment she sighs heavily in frustration. “What’d they do to you?” she asks the dinosaur feeling great empathy.

“State of the art equipment,” Hoskins answers her hypothetical as he walks over. Riley clenches her jaw shut and blinks away her tears at the sound of his voice. “I want to catch every moment of this. Pretty cool right?” He reaches his hand out to the equipment but Charlie growls.

Riley roughly shoves his arm away and stands at full high between them. “Don’t. Touch her,” Riley growls. Hoskins just laughs at her threatening stance. “These animals are not some weapon for you to mass produce. They are living, breathing, beings. They're my family.” Her words wiped the smile straight off his face. “They are highly intelligent, highly dangerous creatures. They will bite the hand that feeds them but in your case, I hope they take the whole damn thing!” Hoskins is glaring at her now. Claire, Barry, and Owen stand just outside the box door watching the escalating encounter.

"Riley, enough,” Claire tries to get her to stop, but she's in a white hot rage.

"No it's fine Claire. I mean look at him.” She gestures to Hoskins who is starting to hufflepuff in frustration. She's pushing him and she knows it, but she doesn't stop. Her own anger builds as his does, with every word said. “He could clearly stand to lose a few pounds so why not just jump start it and lose an entire limb!” Hoskins turns away from her in attempt to block her out. “Is that what you want Hoskins? Huh?” He walks away and tries to leave the box but Riley is having none of it. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" She grabs his arm to turn him around but he whips around on his own and backhands her across the face, sending her into the dirt. The raptors start to go bizerk thrashing in their cages.

“Riley!” She hears Zach jump from the car and start sprinting towards them. Owen immediately grabs Hoskins and pins him against the cage bars, hard. Claire and Barry are leaning down in the dirt to check on Riley.

"Wrong move buddy,” Owen growls in Hoskins ear.

“Hey! Hey! No civilians!” Riley hears Zach and Gray stopped a few feet away but so guards as she sits up.

“Is she okay?” Zach yells out to anyone who will answer him. Claire supports her as her vision slowly comes back. She see's Zach and Gray being held back, a few soldiers are rushing forward, and a couple are drawing their guns, because Owen is still holding Hoskins against the bar, nearly checking the life out of him. Hoskins toes are barely touching the ground and he's turning a slight shade of purple.

“Put him down!” “Let him go!” Soldiers are starting to yell at him.

“Owen!” Riley quickly scrambles to her feet and over to her uncle. Claire and Barry quickly follow realizing what's happening.

They're quickly pulled back from the scene by guards. “Hey! Get back! Stay back!”

“Okay. Okay.” Claire holds up her hands in surrender.

"Owen.” Riley grabs onto one of her uncles arms and tugs but it's unyielding. His eyes are full of fire, his jaw is clenched, she can see his veins popping from his neck and the muscle straining in his arms.He's actually trying to choke the life out of Hoskins. “Hey! Look at me. Look at me!” He peeks at her from the corner of his eye before the flick back to Hoskins, but doesn't let  of the man's neck.

“Put your guns down!” Claire tries to order the soldiers. Owen and Riley now have four guns aimed at them.

“Miss!” One of them yells at her, Riley just raised her hand for him to wait.

“I'm right here, Owen. I'm here look at me. I'm okay.” Owens eyes flick a few times between her and Hoskins who's starting to change from purple to blue, then back to her. “Let him go,” Riley pleads.

His jaw slowly starts to unclench as he takes a deep breath. “Are you hurt?” he asks her.

“I'm fine. I'm okay. Just let him go, please,” she begs again and slightly tugs at his arm once more, this time it though, it gives a little. She can hear Hoskins wheezing for the small bit of air Owen is allowing him to have. “I'm fine,” she assures him once again. Owen finally loosens his grip from Hoskins neck but gives him a shove into the bars. One of the guards rips him away from Hoskins to detain him on the other side of the box and Riley follows. One of the guard is checking over Hoskins. The boys are a few feet away still being blocked by some guards. Gray is trying to peer around anyway that he can. Zach has his eyes glued to Riley though hands running through his hair nervously, shifting between feet, and his eyes ask a million  silent questions. Riley gives a few small nods in answer, and it seems to be enough for him to stop tussling his brown locks. Claire and Barry are having a hushed conversation of their own a few feet away while glaring towards Hoskins. The Raptors have calm down, well as much as they can with all of these people around. Owen uses the arm not held back by the guard to take Riley's chin in his hand and turn her face towards him.

His eyes graze over her cheek and eye and his jaw tightens again. “Are you sure you're okay?”

She feels like the right side of her face is twice the size it usually is, she's sure it's bright red if it's not already bruising, and she can feel her racing pulse in her eye. But she lies, "I'm alright.” Owen takes a few calming breaths and releases her. Hoskins pushes the soldiers away, still coughing and hunched over, trying to say he's fine but whenever he talks it comes out more as a wheeze. He points towards Owen as if he's preparing to say something but he's still  clearing his throat and struggling to regulate his breathing.

He finally stands straight and manages to grasp out, “You are a crazy son of a bitch, Grady.” He lowers the hand he has pointed at Owen and runs at his neck. “You're all crazy!” He yells at the group before turning his head back to Owen. “I could press charges. I should sue!”

“But you won't,” Riley interrupts his rant.

“Oh yeah? And why's that?” He asks her.

She crosses her arms across her chest.l and takes a few steps forward. A guard scoots closer to Hoskins to stand between them and Hoskins doesn't stop him, looking almost glad at the barricade. “Because you need us to make this work. Those animals have never been out of containment. To let the run into that forest without any kind of guidance is crazy.” Hoskins eyes look over her right shoulder, then her left, no doubt trying to gauge Owen and Barry's reactions. Sure that their faces matched exactly what she was saying she continued, “The Raptors need a leader. So if  you want this to work...if we do this...we do this our way.”

The sun has fully set. Everyone it bustling around getting ready to set out.

Owen has gathered everyone in the tent to go over strategy. He puts the map onto the table where everyone can see it, and points to where the Indominus was last seen. “We know she’s in sector 5. This is a game we like to call hide and seek we’ve done it about a thousand times with these animals,” he directs the group. “When they get on target, and they will get on target, wait to engage. Velociraptors are pack hunters. They like to heard the animal into a kill zone. That’s when we take our shot. Get a clear shot, wait for my command, and give her everything you got. We’ve got one good target gentlemen. Do not shoot my raptors!” he barks. Riley touches his arm as a reminder to be nice. “Please,” he hesitantly adds.

Riley is walking back to the box with the Indominus scent sample, for the Raptors when Owen grabs her arm to stop her. “Riley.” he gently pulls her back. She looks up at his worried expression.

“What is it?” He sighs heavily already knowing how she’s going to take this.

“I think you should stay here...with Claire and the boys.”

“What!? No! Why?” she protests.

He tries to reason with her, “Because, that’s what’s going to keep you safe.”

“Yeah which means nothing if you’re not safe too,” she argues back.

“Come on. I’ll be perfectly safe.” He shrugs off the potential danger. “I’ve got the whole dream team.” He gestures to the raptors.

“The whole team?” she questions, reminding him. He can see the determination in her eyes and a small smile spreads across his face as he shakes his head.

“You are so like your mother,” Riley rolls her eyes at the comment. Owen often tells her stories about her mom and in each one he tells her how unwavering, brave, and sometimes down right stubborn her mother could be. He reaches forward and tucks a stray hair behind her ear. “She'd be so proud of you.” She gives him a small smile in return. He nods. “Alright.” She smiles and wraps her arms tightly around his waist. He hugs her tightly and kisses the top of her head. They start to walk back to the box together. “Gimmie that,” he says playfully. He reaches over and takes the chuck of dinosaur meat, wrapped in a towel from her. Riley doesn't complain about it though.

Owen walks around the box letting each of the Raptors smell the Indominus steak. Riley walks over to Echo after he's done with her. She looks over the scar she has across her eye and face from the time she had challenged Blue for dominance. Her offset jaw and the way her lip curls up, due to the fight, had resulted in some of the paddock workers nicknaming her Elvis. It was the little things like that, that made her love these animals like family. Echo gives a low growl as Riley reaches her hand forward, but it doesn't scare the girl off.

“Oh hush you,” she tells the dinosaur. She strokes her scales gently and Echo's growl turns into almost a low pur.

“Riley,” someone calls her. From the other side of the bars, she sees Zach and Gray looking over the Raptors in fascination. She gives Echo one more stroke and makes her way out of the box towards them. When she gets close enough Zach hisses like he’s in pain. But as he reaches for her it becomes clear that he referring about her pain. He tilts her chin up with his fingers to see her slightly bruised cheek and darkening under eye. He runs a thumb across her cheek and she flinches only a little. "Ouch,” he says for her. “He got you pretty good."

He drops his hand and she shrugs. "I'll be alright,” she assures him.

“What about them?” He nods towards the raptors.

She looks over at them and her face fall in worry. “Them I’m less sure about.” He can hear the sadness in her voice.

“So this is the pack huh?” he leans his arms against the bars to match his little brother.

“Yup,” she says joining them.

“And you’re going with them?” he asks but she feels he’s trying to get at something else.

“Yes?” She surveys the side of his face. He won't meet her eyes and Riley thinks it's because it'll show her too much. If there is one thing Riley's learned about Zach in the few life endangering hours they've known each other, it's that he's not great with word, or feelings, or people.

“Don’t you think it’s dangerous?”

“For us to go hunting down a forty-foot dinosaur?” She chuckles a little bit at the obserity of the statement. “Of course,” she admits. “But as crazy as it sounds, I feel more safe out there with the raptors than, anywhere else without them.” Zach finally looks over at her again. His eyes scan her face. Maybe trying to find a hint of hesitation? It’s a look Zach wears a lot around her she’s realized. Like she’s a puzzle, but he can’t see the picture clearly. But he’s not frustrated by it, his eye brows are knitted together, his face isn’t scrunched while trying to figure it out. They just drift across the details of her face, thoughtful. It feel oddly intimate for just a look. “What?” she asks after a moment of him drinking in her features.

“You're amazing,” he says simply and she can tell he’s being sincere. Riley’s not sure how to respond to his honesty. She purses her lips and her eyes drift to her boots as she toes the ground. Right now she’s actually pretty grateful that her cheek is purple. It might take away from the blush that creeping up her neck.

“Thank you?” she says awkwardly and gives him a side smile.

“I mean it.” She looks back into his eyes and she can see his candor reflected in them. “I’ve never known anyone like you before. You’re the strongest, smartest, bravest girl…” he pauses and corrects himself, “...person, I’ve ever met.”  And for a moment he just hold her gaze.

“Owen,” Gray calls as Riley’s Uncle comes back to the box to take care of Blue. Zach quickly drops his eye and the teens both shift away from each other. He turns away from his beta and walks over to the fence. “Are they safe?” Gray asks and, all three kids are leaning through the bars.

Owen shakes his head. “No they’re not,” he says honestly.

“What are their names?” Zach asks.

“Well, you’ve already met Foxtrot there.” He points to Riley and the boys smile at her nickname. Riley winks at her uncle in return. “Then you’ve got Charlie,” he points down the line to each dinosaur, “that’s Echo, here’s Delta, and this one’s Blue. She’s the Beta,” He introduces them all.

“Who’s the alpha?” Gray asks.

Owen shrugs to not seem too arrogant. “You’re looking at him, kid,” He says and he can’t help but come off a little proud. “Riles?” he addresses. “You ready to go?” She takes a deep breath and nods. Riley turns back to Zach and Gray who look worried again. Owen walks away to give them a moment.

“Zach! Gray!” Claire calls to the boys.

Gray pushes past Zach and wraps his arms around Riley’s waist. “Good luck,” Gray says into her shirt. She pats his head affectionately. He pulls away gives her a thumbs up, a less than convincing, half smile and then runs off to his aunt. Her and Zach are then standing there alone. They shift awkwardly neither one of them looking directly at the other.

Finally Riley speaks, tired of the silence, “Alright.” She says simply. She nods and pushes herself into walking past him, but he grabs her arm before she can.

“Riley,” he stops her and she  looks up at him expectantly. “Just-” he cuts himself of and cringes back the words like it would pain him to say them.

Riley smiles at his reticence. “You look like you’re about to say ‘be careful’.”

“Would that be the lamest thing ever?” he asks. She chuckles and shakes her head.

“No. It’d actually be kinda sweet.”

“Yeah, well,” he shifts again this time taking a couple steps closer to her while he looks at his feet. The hand still holding her arm drifts slowly down until he’s grips her wrist, not exactly holding her hand, but his fingers rest in her palm. “I just know that, a lot of things could go wrong out there, and I’d just like to see you come back okay.” His eyes peeks up from under his eyelids at her face. Riley’s smile starts to spread across her face as she entertained by watching him squirm. His eyes widen at his subtle confession. “Well not just me,” he backtracks quickly and Riley nods enjoying this way too much. “I’m sure Gray would like to see you again.”

“Of course,” she spurs him on.

“Well everyone actually,” she holds back laughter as he trips over his words nervously. “Like your uncle and aunt Claire, that talk guy with the french accent. So…” he says slowing down his rambling. “Just be-” Riley cuts off his incoherent babbling by grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him down into a kiss. He takes a few second to get over the shell shock of what’s currently happening. Then he reaches out and rests his hand on her waist, closing his eyes and melting into the kiss. It’s a simple kiss. Just a few second of holding their lips against each other before they pull away. Riley looks at Zach, lips still puckered and in a daze about what just unfolded.

“I'll be fine,” she tells him. She walks away letting his hand go slowly with every step. She goes over to where Owen and Barry are. And empty four wheel sits, waiting just for her at the front of the pack. She picks up the gun leaning against the bike, throws the strap around her shoulder, mounts the bike and holds onto the handles, all while smiling to herself. It’s then she feel the pair of eyes boring holes into the side of her face. She looks over to see her uncle staring at her. “What?” she asked him.

“Really?” He shifts like he’s got something under his skin and she can tell he’s uncomfortable.

“What?” she asks again.

“Boys?” He shakes his head in disbelief. “No, it’s too soon for boys.”

Riley rolls her eyes. “ You’re about to run with four man eating velociraptors and you’re afraid of a teenage boy?”

Owen thinks it over for a minute and then nods enthusiastically. “Yes very,” he admits. Riley just laughs.


End file.
